PLS leadership seized on this opportunity to communicate the library’s value to the widest possible audience — through the annual report. Leadership recognized that the library’s value in the digital age and used a new Story of the Month initiative to share the reality of the library’s relevance in our communities.

In 2019, PLS invited customers and staff to share stories of how the library impacted their lives through the Story of the Month initiative. Stories collected were shared with municipalities, boards and community groups all year. PLS combined these stories with cutting-edge design elements to create an innovative annual report, creating a cohesive document that powerfully shared the library’s impact. System-produced images accompanied moving narrative, highlighting local community members in action at their local library.

The PLS 2019 Annual Report received overwhelmingly positive feedback about its visual aesthetics, exceptional information and touching stories from diverse customers. The system received more requests for the document than it had in years, and the report was submitted for an ALA PR Xchange award.